NFL: JAN 03 Seahawks at 49ers
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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

Good morning, everyone! Carter Bahns with you as we enter the first full week of 2026 and, with it, the NFL postseason. In today's newsletter, we pick apart everything from Week 18 as it pertains to the playoffs and start to look ahead to the wild card round. For fans of the college game, we also have some previewing to do for the College Football Playoff semifinals as four teams gear up to battle later this week for a spot in the national championship game.

There's plenty from the past few days to cover in other sports, too, like a notable international signing in MLB, the first batch of conference games in college basketball and the NHL Winter Classic.

Let's get into it.

🏈 Five things to know Monday

  1. The NFL playoff field and draft order for the first 18 picks are set. The Steelers walked off with the AFC North title and the final spot in the playoffs Sunday night after the Ravens missed a 44-yard field goal. Earlier in the weekend, the Seahawks locked up the NFC's No. 1 seed with a win over the 49ers, the Broncos secured the AFC's No. 1 seed with a win over the Chargers and the Panthers clinched a playoff berth by way of the Falcons' win over the Saints. There were a lot of moving parts, so everything can be found in one place regarding the final playoff picture. Meanwhile, the 18 teams that missed the postseason know where they will be picking in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Raiders clinched the No. 1 overall pick, and you can view the rest of the order here.
  2. Myles Garrett is the new NFL single-season sack king. He had only five minutes of game time to spare, but Garrett sacked Joe Burrow in the Browns' win over the Bengals to reach 23 takedowns on the year. The perennial All-Pro pass rusher made the historic play on the penultimate defensive possession of the game and in the process, broke the previous single-season mark that T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan shared for the last four years. Officials paused the game for Garrett to be honored -- a move with which Bengals coach Zac Taylor was not thrilled.
  3. The Falcons fired Raheem Morris. Atlanta was victorious on Sunday, but it was clear that Morris' fate was determined before the season-ending win over the Saints. It took the Falcons a matter of hours to cut ties with their coach after the final game of the year. They also parted ways with general manager Terry Fontenot, setting the stage for a top-down reset ahead of the 2026 season. Morris went 8-9 in both of his two years at the helm and did not make the playoffs.
  4. The transfer portal is open, and quarterbacks are on the move. The new expedited transfer portal window is off to a hot start. It took all of one day for teams to make early statements (for better or worse) with their additions and losses. The big winners are the ones who landed prized quarterbacks in the early going. These signal-callers are on the move after the portal's opening 72 hours: Josh Hoover to Indiana, Rocco Becht to Penn State, Kenny Minchey to Nebraska, Drew Mestemaker to Oklahoma State and Billy Edwards Jr. to North Carolina.
  5. Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto is headed to the Blue Jays. Toronto's active offseason continued with a significant signing as the reigning American League champions reportedly inked the six-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star to a four-year, $60 million contract. Okamoto logged six seasons with at least 30 home runs as one of the top players in Japan's top league and projects as a potential everyday third baseman for the Blue Jays.

🏀 Do not miss this: College basketball conference play is underway

NCAA Basketball: Tennessee at Arkansas
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It was a rough opening week of SEC play for Kentucky, which opened league action with an 89-74 loss to No. 14 Alabama to snap a four-game winning streak. No. 12 North Carolina also fell flat defensively in a 97-83 loss to SMU for its first ACC defeat.

Darius Acuff looked more than ready for conference action, though, in a career day in which he scored 29 points to lead No. 18 Arkansas over No. 19 Tennessee. He was one of the biggest winners of the week along with James Nnaji, Bennett Stirtz, AJ Dybantsa, Braden Smith and other standouts. David Cobb explained how Acuff made an early SEC Player of the Year case.

  • Cobb: "Acuff is already playing at an All-American level. With the Razorbacks mired in an early slump, he provided their first seven points. Later on, he capped an 8-0 run with a dagger of a 3-pointer to put Arkansas ahead 79-68 with 2:09 remaining. At every turn of his first SEC game, he rose to meet the moment."

🏆 What to know ahead of College Football Playoff semifinals

College Football Playoff Quarterfinal - Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential: Alabama v Indiana
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Greatest College Football Playoff ever? That's what Will Backus thinks of the 2025 postseason, which has given us two rounds of spectacular football and the zaniest of storylines. No matter how the playoff ends, it will be legendary. Only Miami has notched a national championship game victory, and that was nearly 25 years ago.

  • Backus: "The games have largely delivered, with more than half the matchups competitive, and even a Group of Five program like James Madison putting up a respectable showing against Oregon in the first round. The quarterfinal showdown between Georgia and Ole Miss became one of the most thrilling playoff games ever broadcast. But this year, it's not just the quality of the contests that matters -- it's the results. The four semifinalists this playoff has produced are unmatched in intrigue."

The only thing is, while these semifinalists are all incredible stories, none of them stack up against the greatest teams in CFP history. At least, not yet. Brad Crawford ranked all 48 semifinalists from the last 12 years, and Indiana stands the highest of the four left standing at No. 17.

Maybe by the time it's all said and done, the champion will compare more favorably to the blue-blooded winners of old. Here are their odds to win the title:

  • Indiana: +135 (-185 to make championship)
  • Miami: +300 (-155)
  • Oregon: +300 (+145)
  • Ole Miss: +550 (+120)

Of the four possible national championship matchups, Tom Fornelli writes Oregon vs. Miami is the most compelling. The "Mario Cristobal Bowl" would draw immense casual interest and feature two teams with punishing run games, accurate quarterbacks and dangerous wide receivers.

Ole Miss meets Miami in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, on Thursday and then on Friday, Oregon and Indiana battle in a Big Ten rematch in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta.

🏈 NFL Week 18 recap

NFL: Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams
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The final week of the 2025 NFL regular season is complete. Before we turn our full attention to the playoffs, coaching carousel and draft season, here are a handful of key developments you need to know from the final leg of the 18-week marathon:

  • Winners: Outside of the obvious and aforementioned winners of the week (those who secured playoff spots and high draft picks), it was also a good time to be Matthew Stafford, who may have locked up the MVP award with four touchdowns -- including two in the fourth quarter to help lock up a No. 5-seed-clinching win over the Cardinals. The Bills had a good time closing the doors on Highmark Stadium with a 35-8 rout over the Jets. And elsewhere in the AFC East, Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson look like one of the NFL's top backfield tandems after two of the Patriots' stars combined for five touchdowns.
  • Losers: Alec Pierce was destined to be a big winner this week until he caused a self-inflicted premature end to his career day. He was ejected for making contact with an official after racking up 132 yards and two touchdowns. One of the biggest letdowns by any team came from the Eagles, who sat their starters and suffered an upset loss to the Commanders. A win would have earned them the No. 2 seed.
  • Injuries: Cam Ward was on track to play every offensive snap in his rookie season but left the loss to the Jaguars early with a right shoulder injury. He suffered the ailment while diving into the end zone for a touchdown on the Titans' opening possession.
  • Milestones: In addition to Garrett's single-season sack record, a couple of other historic moments occurred in Week 18. Jaguars kicker Cam Little blasted the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history with a 67-yard boot, and on the not-so-pretty side, Packers running back Emanuel Wilson registered the largest loss of yardage on a carry in 31 years with a negative-18-yard play. And in a mind-bending first, the Jets became the only team to go an entire season without recording an interception since the league began tracking the stat ... in 1933.

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

Pittsburgh Steelers v Cleveland Browns - NFL 2025
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📺 What we're watching Monday

🏀 No. 13 Nebraska at Ohio State (M), 6:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 Minnesota at No. 6 Michigan (W), 6:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
🏀 Knicks at Pistons, 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Network
🏈 FCS National Championship: Montana State vs. Illinois State, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Nuggets at 76ers, 8:30 p.m. on Peacock
🏀 No. 23 USC at No. 9 Michigan State (M), 8:30 p.m. on FS1
🏀 No. 11 Iowa at Northwestern (W), 8:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network
🏀 Warriors at Clippers, 10 p.m. on NBC Sports Network